Snowplow



N. L. JAMES Get 8, H46.

SNOW PLOW Filed Nov. 15, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet l IIJIIIIIIIIJJ'IIM Imnfon ct. 8, 1946.. N. L. JAMES S NOW PLOW Filed Nov. 15, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 {Men/0r: KZ. 1') g 4 4 N. L. JAMES SNOW PLOW Filed Nov. 15, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 8, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SNOWPLOW Norman L. James, Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada Application November 15, 1943, Serial No. 510,408 In Canada November 19, 1942 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in snow plows and the principal objects of the invention are to devise a machine which will effectively cut into accumulated snow on highways, railways or other areas and remove it from in front of the machine, dispersing it on either side definitely clear of the road cut through the snow.

A further object is to devise a mechanism which will not clog and become bound or jammed with snow, slush or ice and which will continu ously clear itself so that it will operate continuously in the heaviest kind of service.

A still further object is to devise a structure which can be mounted directly on an ordinary heavy duty power truck.

The principal feature of the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of a plurality of shovel-like cutter members mounted upon an endless belt arranged transversely and in front of a supporting and propelling truck so that the movement of the cutters will progressively slice the snow from in front of the machine and carry it laterally and discharge it upwardly and outwardly at either end of a casing in which the laterally operating member is housed.

A further feature of importance consists in' the novel provision of a rigid frame secured beneath the chassis of the truck and extending forwardly thereof and carrying an upright frame forward of the truck in which the transversely operating cutting device is adjustably mounted.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a truck having my improved snow plow mechanism mounted thereon.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the assembly shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the snow plow mechanism showing the adjustable discharge chutes at opposite ends arranged in different positions.

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan detail of the driv-i ing gear connection between the power shaft and the endless chain snow-cutter mechanism.

Figure 5 is a part sectional side elevational view of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 5a is a front elevational view of one of the sprockets and part of the guides for the endless cutter chain.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the bottom cutter edge of the casing housing the chain cutter.

Figure '7 is an enlarged detail of the swivel mounting of one of the chain cutter members.

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2 Figure 8 is a perspective detail of one of the shovel cutters and the chain mounting for same. The invention as herein shown is applied to any standard type truck. The supporting frame for the snow plow mechanism is shown formed of a pair of horizontal bars I which are slung beneath the front axle structure, being sucured thereto by suitable blocks or clevices, not shown, and extending rearwardly they are connected to the truck frame 2 by rigid vertical supports 3.

The forward ends of the bars I are preferably formed with outwardly extending offsets 4 and to the extremities of these offsets are rigidly secured the parallel I-beam uprights 5.

Adjacent to the bottom ends of the uprights 5 and arranged at the forward sides thereof is a rigid cross I-beam 6 which is provided with pairs of brackets I slidably embracing the forward flanges of the uprights. A similar cross beam 8' is spaced above the beam 6 and both beams are rigidly connected by welding or bolts to a vertical plate 9 which forms the back plate of an elliptical-shaped casing H) which extends transversely for the desired width to house the snow-cutting members.

A flange H arranged substantially at right angles to the plate it! extends along the top side of said plate and around the rounded lateral ends, the plate 9 extending straight down at the ends to meet the back edge of a bottom plate l2. This bottom plate is rigidly mounted on brackets l3 secured to the bottom cross beam 6 and slopes downwardly and forwardlyfrom the back plate 9 and may be formed with rigid cutting teeth to cut into the hard lower strata of snow or ice on the road surface. The plate 9 is preferably provided with a slidable toothed cutter bar M which, as shown in detail in Figure 6, is reciprocated by a rocker arm I5 mounted on a pivot IS on the bracket l3. This rocker arm is slotted at its inner end and driven by a crank rod l1 vertically mounted in the beam 6 and driven by a mechanism hereinafter described.

Mounted on the upper cross beam 8 adjacent to either end is a yoke-shaped bearing member 18 in which shafts l9 and I9 are journalled and said shafts extend forwardly through the plate 9 and each has mounted on the forwardly extend ing end a double sprocket drum 20, the flanges of which are notched on the perimeter to receive the roller pins 2| of an endless link chain 22.

Channel-shaped track bars 23 mounted on rigid brackets 24 secured to the plate 9 are arranged to engage the rollers of the chain belt to guide and support the upper and lower reaches of the belt in rigid horizontal paths.

Mounted on certain of the links of the chain belt at spaced-apart intervals are longitudinal bars 25 each of which is formed with a circular platen 26. A flanged circular table 21 is rotatably mounted on each of the platens 26 and the :bottom flange thereof is formed with a diverging radial slot 28 which limits the pivotal movement of the table 21.

The upper side of each of the tables 21 is provided with a longitudinally slotted rib or flange 29 in which is fitted the web of a substantially H-shaped shovel member 30. The flanges 3| of the members 30 are flared outwardly and form cutting edges to cut the snow against which the machine is directed.

A wedge-shaped guard plate 32 is rigidly secured to the brackets 24 which support the channel-shaped tracks which carry the horizontal reaches of the chain belt and said guard plate extends forwardly and protects the chain from being clogged with ice and snow. The casing formed by the back plate 9,1ianges l l and bottom plate I2 is open at the front and exposes the shovels travelling laterally of the casing so that the sharp edges of the shovels, which travel rapidly in a direction transversely of the machine and swing slightly On their pivot supports, will slice off the face of the snow bank against which the machine is forced by the truck upon which it is mounted and the snow filling each shovel will be carried along to the rounded end of the casing. The movement of the lower bank of shovels as the chain follows the perimeter of the sprockets is accelerated so that the snow is thrown outward at the end of the casing toward which the bottom reach of the shovel chain is moving.

A chute 33 mounted on a swivel plate 33' and extending through a slot at each end of the casing it! enables the snow to be discharged at either end by reversin the movement of the shovel chain. The angularity of the chutes may be adjusted to direct the snow outwardly and upwardly at variable angles. When it is desired to project the snow upwardly and outwardly a considerable distance chute extensions 34 are provided. These chute extensions are preferably hinged and may be adjusted to various angles by a screw member 35 which is shown threaded right and left and engaging threaded blocks 36 connected by links 31 to the chute extensions. The member 35 is shown provided with a worm wheel 38 which is operated by a worm arranged upon a cranked rod 39 which extends to the operating cab of the truck. If the extension chutes are not required longer links 31 may be connected to the pivotal chutes 33 so that their angularity of discharge may be altered from the cab.

The frame formed by the cross beams 6 and 8 and the plate 9 is here shown, and preferably is suspended by coil springs 49 connected to suitable eyes secured in the top bar 8 and suspended from brackets 42 mounted on the upper ends of the uprights 5.

The load of the entire snow-cutting structure described is adjustably supported by the springs and can be readily adjusted up or down to cut at varying distances from the road surface.

A toothed rack 43 extends vertically of the movable snow-cutting structure and an operating pinion 44 is mounted on a spindle in one of the uprights 5. This pinion maybe operated by a hand grank and it may be locked by suitable locking The shafts l 9 and I9 are each provided with a sprocket 45 arranged between the paired bearings of the yoke members l8 and the sprockets 45 are operatively connected by a drive chain 46.

The shaft I 9 has mounted thereon sprockets 41 and 48.

Ashaft 49 is mounted parallel to the shaft IS in suitable bearings carried by the cross bar 8 and carries a sprocket 50. This shaft is directly connected to a flexible shaft 5| which is operatively connected with a motor 52 mounted on the truck. A clutch member 53 slidably and nonrotatably mounted on the shaft 49 is arranged to operatively connect the sprocket with the drive shaft to drive the sprockets 20 and the shovel chain in one direction.

A spur gear 54 rotatably mounted on the shaft 49 is adapted to be engaged by the clutch 53 and drives a spur gear 55 mounted on a jack shaft 56 and a, sprocket 51 on the jack shaft is connected by a chain with the sprocket 48 on the shaft l9, thus providing means, on the operation of the clutch, for operating the shovel chain in a reverse direction, the clutch being controlled by a suitable shift rod 53' extending to the cab of the truck.

The gear mechanism shown and described is a very simple mechanical arrangement, which of course might be substituted by any suitable form of reverse gear mechanism, the object being to be able to operate the shovel chain in either a right or left direction so that it may discharge the snow through either of the discharge chutes described. It will be understood that this may be accomplished as the H-shaped shovel members will cut the snow equally well operating in either direction, and as the shovels are pivotally mounted and can swing on their pivots either right or left within the limits of the confining slot in the carrying tables mounted on the endless chain 22 their cutting edges will, upon engaging the snow, swing outwardly at a slight angle from their plane of travel and effectively dig into and cut away the snow.

It has been stated that the cutter bar at the bottom of the shovel chain casing may be provided with a reciprocable cutter bar and a crank shaft I1 is shown connected with the rocker arm l5 for operating same. The shaft IT, as shown in Figure 5, is provided at its upper end with a bevel pinion 58 meshing with a pinion 59 on a shaft 60 mounted in the bar 8. This shaft is suitably driven by a sprocket connection with a sprocket wheel 6| mounted on the shaft 49.

In the operation of the device herein described. the frame I is mounted in the underslun position shown, to any suitable truck on which a motor is mounted and power for operating the shovel chain is conveyed to the driving sprockets as described. The shovel chain is operated at a rapid rate of movement and the chains being carried horizontally in the channel guides carries the shovels transversely. As the truck moves forward the rapidly moving shovels slice the snow from the snow bank and at the discharge end of the casing the shovels, swinging upward with an accelerated movement, fling the snow carried thereby upward through the chute 33 with sufiicient impetus to carry it well to the side of the road being cut and at any desired angle as regulated by the adjustable chute or chute extension.

The lower cutter bar slices the lower strata of ice or packed snow and it feeds up the inclined bottom plate into the path of the rapidly moving shovels and is picked up and expelled with the snow sliced from the face of the out.

A machine such as described is of a rugged construction and will operate effectively in snow or ice of varying depth. Where drifts are encountered that are higher than the lower reach of the chain of shovels, the shovels of the upper reach will cut into the face of the drift and carry it around Within the casing flange and finally discharge it outwardly through the discharge chute. 4

The device is distinctly advantageous as it may be attached at very little cost to practically any standard highway truck, and it will cut its way through any drift that may be encountered without Clogging and will effectively clear itself as it progresses.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A snow plow comprising a frame having a closed vertical back mounted transversely of a truck, horizontally spaced shafts arranged adja cent to opposite ends of said frame, paired sprockets mounted on each of said shafts, an endless chain belt extending between and operated by the sprockets on said shafts, said belt having roller extensions engaging said sprockets, paired horizontal trackways rigidly supported from said frame between said sprockets and supporting the rollers of the upper and lower reaches of said chain, shovel-like cutters mounted at intervals on said chain belt and presenting snow cutting edges, means for guiding the snow into the path of said cutters, and means for directin the snow discharged from said cutters.

2. A snow plow comprising a frame mounted transversely of a truck, an endless chain belt extending longitudinally of said frame and having rollers extending from the sides thereof, sprockets supporting said belt, rigid trackways arranged each side of said belt and engaging the roller extensions thereof for guiding the horizontal reaches thereof, a longitudinal bar forming a part of certain of said chain links, a slotted table pivotally mounted on each of said bars, and a shovellike cutter mounted on each of said pivotal tables, the slot in each table engaging the longitudinal bar and permitting a limited pivotal action of the cutters to swing the snow cutting flange edges outwardly.

3. A snow plow comprising a frame having a closed vertical back, horizontally spaced shafts arranged adjacent to opposite ends of said frame, paired sprockets mounted on each of said shafts, a chain belt horizontally mounted on said sprockets, means for guiding said chain belt, and shovel-like cutters H-shaped in cross section mounted perpendicularly on the links of said chain belt and having flaring perpendicular cutting edges.

NORMAN L. JAMES. 

